Tips for Staying Healthy and Positive While in Isolation

First of all, we hope that you and your loved ones are safe and well. There is little talk of anything other than COVID-19 at the moment, and we’re all experiencing challenging and uncertain times. During this period where we’re all doing our part and staying at home, Dermatica continues its commitment to improving your physical and mental wellbeing. Below are some simple things that you can do, at home, to keep healthy.

Eating A Healthy and Balanced Diet

While most of us are tempted to comfort eat at the moment, it’s important to remember that one of the best things that we can do for our body is to eat well. Why not use this time to perfect your cooking skills? As a guide to healthy eating, The British Nutrition Foundation has outlined some top tips for eating a healthy, well-balanced diet.

Start your day the right way with a healthy breakfast. Wholegrain cereals, wholemeal toast or plain porridge are excellent choices.

Fruit and vegetables provide lots of vitamins, minerals and fibre and are really tasty! They should make up just over a third of all the food you eat each day.

A great tip for increasing your vegetable intake is to make your own homemade vegetable soup or try to grate vegetables like carrots and courgettes into a Bolognese sauce.

Aim for at least two portions of sustainably sourced fish per week, including a portion of oily fish (salmon, sardines, trout and mackerel). Oily fish is a source of Vitamin D and omega 3. Remember that smoked and canned fish may contain high levels of salt.

Switch saturated fat, found in butter, chocolate, cheese and fatty cuts of meat, with unsaturated fat, found in vegetable oils, nuts, oily fish and avocado. This can help lower your cholesterol.

Avoid sugar, especially between meals, as it may lead to too many calories and tooth decay.

Aim for 6-8 glasses of fluid per day. Water is the best choice as it hydrates you without adding any extra calories to your daily intake.

Consider Taking A Vitamin D Supplement

Vitamin D is known as the sunshine vitamin as our bodies create it from sunlight when outdoors. Its function is to help regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body. If you are housebound due to self-isolating, for example, you may not be getting enough vitamin D. You can find vitamin D in some foods such as oily fish, red meat, and egg yolks. You can also take a vitamin D dietary supplement. Please check with your doctor or pharmacist to make sure that vitamin D is suitable for you to take.

An Active Body is a Happy Body

COVID-19 has changed many people’s routines including how they exercise. Those who enjoy working out in a gym are no longer able to do so and government restrictions mean that we are only allowed to leave our house once per day to undertake a form of exercise. Exercise is more important now than ever during self-isolation as it helps to reduce stress, and is excellent for our physical and mental well being. Thankfully, there are plenty of exercises that you can do while following guidelines and staying indoors.

Joe Wicks, a.k.a. The Body Coach has produced a range of inspiring at-home workouts, from P.E. classes for children to sessions aimed at seniors.

Please speak with your doctor before starting a new exercise regime, particularly if you have an underlying health problem, have any risk factors for heart disease, or you currently lead a very sedentary lifestyle.

Manage Stress

It’s very common to feel anxious, stressed, sad, or scared during a challenging time such as a pandemic. It can help to talk to someone that you trust such as a close friend, or a family member, on the phone.

If you feel overwhelmed, speak with a healthcare professional or a counsellor. It is important to take care of both your physical and your mental health at all times.

Following the advice listed above can also help to manage stress.

Don’t use smoking, alcohol or other drugs to deal with your emotions.

Only look at reliable sources of information. The NHS website, gov.uk, and the WHO are examples of reputable sources.

Lessen the amount of time you spend watching or listening to media coverage that you find upsetting.

Pick up a new hobby, such as drawing, painting, learning the guitar. There is a wide range of tutorials and videos all taught online.

Skype/ FaceTime/ Whatsapp/ Email your friends, family and those who haven’t caught up within a while

What Dermatica’s Doing

As Dermatica is considered an essential service, we are fully operational. The wellbeing of our incredible team, our amazing subscribers and our supportive community is of the utmost importance to us. Dermatica is taking the following steps to ensure a safe environment for everyone:

Continue to closely monitor the advice of the government and follow their guidance carefully

Maintain our consistently high hygiene standards at all times

Support our staff to work from home, where at all possible

Work closely with our delivery team to ensure their well being and that of our subscribers